CLIENT PERCEPTIONS OF COUPLES AND FAMILY-THERAPY

The investigators analyzed videotaped interviews with 18 client system s attending marital or family therapy. During the interviews, clients were asked to comment on their experience of the process of therapy, i ncluding what was helpful and not helpful about the treatment they wer e receiving. Three thematic categories emerged from the qualitative an alysis of the data: 1) respect for the hierarchy inherent in the thera peutic relationship; 2) the importance of therapist empathy; and 3) pe rceived helpfulness of various therapeutic techniques.